Wonderwall
by eccacia
Summary: Caitlin is jealous, Barry is distracted, Iris is amused, Cisco thinks he can save the day, Harry actually does, and two dorks finally admit that they're in love. What begins as the most poorly-executed mission in Team Flash's history turns out better than expected, after all. One-shot.


**Prompt from Anon:** Hi! I have some Snowbarry prompts: 1. Jealous/Protective Caitlin. Nothing specific in mind. Just do what you want :) 2. Barry is mad about something and Caitlin kisses him to calm him down and/or he gets too excited about something and ends up kissing Caitlin. Thank you :)

 **Notes:** Sorry this took so long! I tried to incorporate both prompts. This was supposed to be a short fic, but well, it took on a life of its own, so… here's a longish one-shot. Takes place some time in S2, no Jay. Title from the song by Oasis. Hope you enjoy!

* * *

Cisco liked to think that he knew Caitlin well.

Actually, he liked to think that he was her best friend, but then he wasn't about to ask her if he really was. He didn't exactly want to in case her answer was no, because aside from that hurting his feelings, _he'd_ have to make up a best friend on the spot if she asked him back, in which case he might just say "Harry" instead of "you" or "Barry" because there was nothing sadder than unrequited best-friendship, and he didn't like the idea of resorting to _Harry_ even as a fake best friend—

Right, he digressed. In any case, he liked to think he knew Caitlin very well. After all, he'd known her the longest, crashed at her place the most, had been there for her through both of Ronnie's… disappearances, shall he call them, _and_ she'd once asked him to be her maid of honour. Now, if one conveniently overlooked the fact that she was piss-drunk at the time, that last piece of information was his most convincing claim to BFF-ship with her.

Anyway, the point he was getting to was that, as her self-proclaimed best friend, he also liked to think that he could read her pretty well, and that he was adept at manoeuvring through the perilous minefield that was Caitlin's feelings.

Like now, for instance, something was obviously bothering her. She didn't say anything _out loud,_ of course,but she didn't need to, because it was a best friend's duty to be so perceptive that the best friendee's internal state could be inferred merely from observing her outward behaviour.

Case in point: Since the moment they parked the van outside the very fancy place where two meta-humans were reported to be, Caitlin had switched between at least five different radio channels. Now, this was unusual because Caitlin _never_ surfed channels. During the times that he'd had to hitch a ride with her in the past, she only ever tuned in to _one_ station, and it was this weird station that played the kind of music that could put his grandmother to sleep. Note again that it was the _only_ channel she _ever_ listened to, so, the fact that she was 1) surfing channels and 2) lingering on heavy metal songs or trashy pop songs about angry lovers _was_ cause for alarm.

Ah, a new development: the station that she was currently on started playing _Summer Lovin'_ , but before John Travolta could belt out two notes, Caitlin wrenched the switch to 'off', huffed, and returned to adjusting the already perfectly-adjusted dials of their communication device.

Cisco raised his eyebrows. Very curious indeed, and he intended to uncover the reason for her strange behaviour with the signature subtlety of any sensitive male BFF.

"Yo, Cait," he said, cool as a cucumber, "you feeling okay?"

Caitlin didn't even look up from the dials she was fiddling with. "I'm _fine_ ," she said, pushing a few buttons with more force than necessary.

"Uh," he said. "Okay, cool. Cool. It's just, you know, you're acting kinda weird."

Now she turned away from what she was doing, and gave him a glare that could tame rampaging giraffes—or something. Bottom line was that it was crazy scary. "Weird? What do you mean by weird?"

"Well," he said, wishing that he was anywhere but in a closed space with her, "weird like, moody-weird. Like it's… _that time_ moody-weird." When she only narrowed her eyes at him, he hastily added, "Or, you know, _crimson wave_ moody-weird. _Red tide_ moody-weird—"

"Are you asking," she clipped, "if I'm on my period?"

 _Uh-oh._ It was time to backtrack. So much for being her sensitive male BFF…

"Um—"

"Because I'm _not_. And I'm not moody, I'm _fine._ "

Caitlin resumed fiddling with the dials.

"Alright, cool," he said, but inside he was panicking as he scrambled to assemble what he needed for Plan B (also known as Plan- **B** ribe-Her-With-Sweets-Until-She-Talks), "just checking. Nice. Cool."

A tense silence followed. Cisco rifled through his pockets in hopes of discovering some candy or gum, but to no avail. For a few seconds, he thought to succumb to his fate of being the unwitting victim of Caitlin's misguided moody-weird anger, but he immediately chided himself for it because no best friend would give up so easily. Now, if only he could so very subtly ask—

"Snow, Ramon is right," Harry suddenly piped in from the backseat, where he was still trying to solve something in his notebook.

Cisco turned to gape at him, so flummoxed by the fact that Harry _voluntarily_ participated in a non-work related conversation that he hardly registered the more relevant fact that for once, Harry admitted he was _right._

"You have been… quite uptight," Harry continued, "ever since Allen announced that he would be bringing West along for this mission."

Caitlin stiffened.

Now Cisco gaped at Caitlin, who was now worrying her lower lip with her teeth.

Well. Admittedly he was miffed that Harry got a more substantial reaction out of her, but now that her facade had cracked it was his turn to shine as the sensitive male BFF. "No way," he said, unable to keep the grin off his face, "don't tell me you're being all cray 'cause you're _jealouuuuuus?"_

"No!" Caitlin shrilled, and his grin widened. Okay, so it wasn't the most sensitive-male-BFF way to prod, but at least it was working _._ "I'm _not!_ That's _not_ it! I _perfectly_ understand why he would choose Iris as his date!" She was gesturing jerkily now. "They're best friends, after all, and she knows the organiser of the event…"

" _Suuuuure_ ," Cisco drawled, leaning back on his chair. " _Suuuuure,_ Cait, s _uuuuure_."

"…and she can fire a gun," Caitlin rambled on, pausing briefly only to narrow her eyes at him. And then she slumped over the communication device and fiddled with the dials dejectedly. "Unlike me with my stupid D-plus athleticism."

Oh, so she was going to go down the self-pity road. No self-respecting best friend of his was going to mope pathetically like that.

"Logically speaking, West is—"

Cisco gestured for Harry to stop speaking, and mouthed, _Hey, back off, I got this_. Harry rolled his eyes and resumed working, and the look of mild annoyance on his face made it seem like _they_ had interrupted him instead of the other way around.

Cisco fought back the urge to stick out his tongue at him and instead turned to Caitlin again. "Yeah, it's better that Iris is the one out there," he said. He decided that sometimes best friends needed to show some tough love. "I mean, remember that time you stepped on the treadmill and you tripped just as it started up? Dude, that was the most _hilarious_ thing ever!"

Now glaring Caitlin was back. "You're one to talk. You got an F in gym, and I don't think you've ever even stepped on a treadmill."

"Ah, Caitlin, Caitlin," he said, sighing dramatically, "there are some battles that just aren't worth fighting. Besides," he continued, "what's the big deal, anyway? I'm pretty sure all Barry and Iris'll do there is beat up the meta-humans, and y'know, maybe pretend to kiss on the side to distract the guards—"

Caitlin's face fell. "You think they will?"

"Keyword being pretend," he amended quickly. "I mean, Barry doesn't like her… like _like_ her anymore. Wait, just to be clear, you're jealous of Iris because Barry thinks she's more kick-ass than you'll ever be, right?"

Caitlin huffed. "Of course, Cisco," she said sarcastically, at the same time that Harry snorted, "because _obviously_ my deficient athletic abilities are the source of my all-consuming jealousy of Iris."

"Hey, woman, don't sass me," Cisco said. "I'm not some dense idiot." That was met with a silence that seemed to confirm that she probably _did_ think he was some dense idiot, and that did not sit well with him. " _Anyway_ ," he ploughed on, "I asked that _on purpose_ so you would hear yourself admit that you're jealous. Comprende?"

Caitlin gave him a dubious look.

He continued, "And can we back up and discuss _how_ and _when_ you started liking Barry? I so wasn't informed of that. I mean, sure, I totally saw it coming with all the sparks flying between you two since you asked him to pee in a cup—well, not really, but you get it—and Barry hinted as much—"

"Barry _what_?" Caitlin said, suddenly seizing his arm. "Barry hinted at what?"

Cisco quickly shut his mouth in consternation. So apparently Caitlin didn't know _that_ yet. "Nothing!" he exclaimed, and then, in a mutter, "I think I just said something I shouldn't have—"

"Cisco!" Caitlin said, her voice an octave higher in desperation. "What did he say?"

"Sorry, Cait," he said, "I don't think it's my place to tell."

Caitlin huffed and crossed her arms. "Some best friend you are."

Cisco blinked. "What?" he said. "Can you say that again?"

Caitlin scrunched her brow in confusion. "Some best friend you are… Did I say anything wrong?"

Cisco felt a wide grin stretch across his face. "Nah." He leaned back against the chair, still grinning. Finally, an admission of best-friendship! Not that he was going to gloat over it, because they weren't in _middle school_ anymore and adult best-friendship was about the _corniest_ thing ever, but it still felt… nice to know. "It's nothing."

She gave him a suspicious look, and then she sighed. "I only found out I liked him today, okay," she finally said.

Cisco shot up. "No way. Just _today_?" he said. "You guys've got the hots for each other since _the beginning of time_ and you just realise it _today?"_

She glared at him. "Yes, just _today_ ," she said. "Specifically when he asked Iris to be his date." She frowned. "I mean, I'm the only female on Team Flash—well, the pioneer Team Flash, anyway—and I was _right there_ in the Cortex when we got the report, but instead of even looking at me, he announced that he was going to ask Iris. And Iris already had plans with Wally, but he _insisted_ even if he knew she had to cancel. And it just felt… _weird_."

Caitlin sighed, and Cisco made what he hoped was a sympathetic enough noise for her to continue.

"It felt weird," she murmured, "because up 'til then Barry was just a friend, so it _shouldn't_ have bothered me, but it _did_ and… well, realising I actually like him at the precise moment he shows interest in someone else isn't… the greatest feeling. You know?"

"Ah," Cisco said evenly, even if he was already doing a victory dance in his head at getting Caitlin to Share Her Feelings, "thus your moody-cray-cray anger."

She raised an eyebrow at that, but a smile was tugging at the corner of her lips. "Yeah, sure, I guess. I'm sorry I took it out on you. And you too, Harry."

"I've been subjected to worse," Harry said shortly, and Cisco had a feeling that he was talking about his daughter. The guy was a jerk, that was for sure, but at least he seemed like a decent enough father.

"Well, if it makes you feel any better," Cisco said cautiously, "Barry doesn't like Iris that way. He has… his _reasons_ for asking her to come with him, instead of asking you."

Caitlin raised an eyebrow at him. "Could you be any more cryptic?"

"What can I say," Cisco shrugged, "Subtlety is my name, and puzzles are my game."

" _O_ -kay," she said. "A more _relevant_ hint would be appreciated—"

"Sorry to cut your scintillating heart-to-heart short," Harry interrupted dryly, "but I believe it's been half an hour and we haven't heard from either Allen or West."

It took a moment for the implications of this to sink in.

" _Half an hour_?!" Cisco screeched, at the same time that Caitlin said, "Oh, fuck me."

She was staring at the communication device she had been fiddling with earlier. "Oh my god," she said faintly, and Cisco felt the rising panic in her voice, "I think I might've accidentally pressed—oh my god. Oh my _god_."

"Oh my god oh my god _oh my god—how_ exactly are we screwed?"

Caitlin looked up at him, clutching at the device so tightly that her knuckles whitened, and she said in a strangled voice, "I think I accidentally turned it off…"

 **. . .**

"Hey, Bar," Iris said, after they made it past the entrance with the special pass that Iris had acquired from her connection, "you okay? You seem really distracted."

"Hm? Oh, yeah, sure." On cue, Iris saw Barry do a quick scan of the place—which, she was sure, he would have forgotten to do if she hadn't called attention to his state of mind. "The meta-human app isn't beeping, so we're not near them yet. We should be able to find them faster if we sweep the room."

Iris rolled her eyes. "What kind of best friend do you take me for?" she said. "You've been acting all evasive this entire week at any mention of Caitlin, you drag me from my dinner with my long-lost brother to be your date at this gala when Caitlin is obviously available, and you barely spoke to her on our way here." She raised her eyebrows. "Did something happen between the two of you?"

Barry looked evidently flustered. "Me and Caitlin? N-no! No-nothing happened," he stuttered, the arm he'd offered to her stiffening under her touch. "It's just, you know the organiser, and you can shoot a gun…"

"Oh, please." Iris steered him to the buffet table, where there were more people milling about. He was obviously too distracted to execute any sort of plan, so she would have to take care of how they'd be scouting the area. "I can smell a lie from you since we were ten. I don't know why you still try."

Barry sighed. "I was hoping I'd get better at it over time."

Iris gave him a sly smile. "Well, I get better over time, too. At smelling lies, at least. Journalist, remember?"

He groaned. "You cornered me. That's not fair."

"It's very fair, Barry Allen," she sniffed. "Now 'fess up."

Barry shifted uncomfortably, as if gathering the guts to do it, and Iris continued to lead Barry down the length of the table, pretending to read the labels on the food, since the meta-human app only worked within a five-meter radius. So far no meta-humans, though.

Beside her, he muttered, "Okay. Fine." He took a deep breath. "I think I like Caitlin."

She resisted the urge to grin. "That's great, Bar," she said. "Have you told her yet?"

He gaped at her. "Iris, I just broke up with Patty. And I don't want to destroy our friendship. And I don't want to mess up the team's dynamics. I mean if I _told_ her we probably wouldn't be working as well as we are now…"

"You haven't even told her yet and it's already eating you up," Iris said gently. "And to be honest? Patty and Caitlin always struck me as a bit alike, and while you were dating Patty I felt like she was a rebound for Caitlin. Not the other way around, oddly enough." It was true, and that was why Iris hadn't been the least surprised by Barry's admission. She'd already felt Barry's quiet, growing attraction for Caitlin, and he'd always been unconsciously moved to seek her out in his weakest moments. Like the time he went to see her to watch the video that Eobard's confession. Iris had always thought he was on the verge of admitting something to her then, and she was a bit disappointed when he hadn't.

"You think?" he said uncertainly. "But what if she doesn't want to go out with me? Or maybe she'd go out with me on like a pity-date, because she'd be too nice to reject a date outright—oh god, Iris. Iris." He started shaking her arm, just as Iris made up her mind to check out the dance floor next. "Iris, what if they can hear us now? Through the earpiece? Oh my god, is Caitlin listening to all this? Cisco? Cait? Sorry, that was just—um—small talk with the—the Jacksons—"

Iris shook her head fondly. When Barry was agitated he seemed like a kid sometimes. "You have to switch it on, you dork. We turned it off and stashed it away when we went through security, remember? Speaking of, we should let them know how we're doing."

Barry visibly sagged in relief. "Right. Right. We should."

A few discreet "Cisco? Are you there?"s and "Cait, can you hear me?"s later, though, there was still no response, and Barry was getting agitated again.

"Relax, Bar," Iris said, patting his stiff shoulders and guiding him to the dance floor so they could get closer to couples. If they had two meta-human targets, it was quite possible that the two were actually a couple, after all. "They're fine. I'm sure it's just a minor technical difficulty."

"But we _never_ have _any_ technical difficulties," Barry protested, checking his earpiece again to make sure that he'd turned it on. Iris could understand his worry, though—they had no other means of communication without this. Well, they had cellphones, sure, but they'd decided beforehand to use them only when absolutely necessary, since the calls could be traced. Additionally the high-security nature of the event made the CCTV cameras impossible to hack (for Cisco, at least, although they probably shouldn't rub that in), so Cisco, Caitlin, and Harry wouldn't be able to see them either if they were in trouble. "Iris, what if the meta-humans already knew who I was? What if they've figured out that they're in the van and kidnapped them?"

But Iris had had her fare share of risky situations recently, and with Barry being a bit more panicky and distracted than usual, she had to remain level-headed. "If it'll make you feel better," she said, "you should check on them."

"And leave you here?" Barry said incredulously. "I can't do that."

Iris raised an eyebrow at him at patted the gun concealed underneath her flowing chiffon gown. "I can handle myself, thank you very much."

"I'm not taking any chances," he said stubbornly. "How about we both flash there? I mean, it's not like the metas have shown up…"

At this point, murmurs were rippling throughout the room, quickly increasing in volume. Iris' steps were slowing, like she was dragging her feet through muck. The meta-human app still wasn't beeping, though, so that meant that the meta-human definitely was in the room but was using his or her abilities at a distance.

"Barry, we should get everyone out of here," she said, but before she did he was already suddenly alert, scanning the room with superhuman speed. She gripped his shoulder as the heels of her shoes seemed to give. "Because I think the floor is melting…"

 **. . .**

There are moments in your life when you mess up so badly and you know you should start fixing the mess ASAP, but the mess you made is so spectacular that it catapults you into a post-mess-up trauma-coma, and once you're in that trauma-coma, you'd feel utterly and completely powerless to do anything.

This was definitely one of those moments.

(Cisco always had a flair for the dramatic.)

In any case, both he and Caitlin were paralysed for a few moments by the sheer stupidity of what they'd done—or failed to do. It was so stupid a mistake that not even a civilian who'd never been on a Team Flash mission would make it.

It was in moments like these that Harry really came in handy.

"Oh, for god's sake," he said, exasperated, leaning over from the backseat to grab the communication device. "Pull yourselves together. I just saw a man in a tux run past the van, so I suspect that Allen and West have already made contact with the meta-humans." He switched it on, and he said their names a few times, but there was no response. He frowned. "Now, if all goes well, they'll probably go through with the course of action we agreed on—evacuation before engagement. But if not, we will call Detective West."

"Right," Cisco said, recovering first, and quickly grabbing his walkie-talkie. "I'll alert the CCPD, but if this is a big-shot event, the security here should know how to properly handle an evacuation."

"But I doubt they know how to deal with meta-humans," Caitlin finally said. "We should probably charge our weapons in case they need back-up…"

"A bold idea from D-plus," Cisco cheered.

Caitlin cracked a smile. "Certainly not something you'd suggest, F-boy."

Cisco scrunched his nose. "F-boy? Really?"

"We need information first on the meta-humans," Harry cut in. "But it seems that neither Allen nor West are responding. Either they're currently engaging the meta-humans, or the meta-humans destroyed their earpie—"

"— _isco? Caitlin? Harry?"_ The device crackled to life. _"Anyone, can you here me?"_

The three quickly huddled around the device. "Iris!" they exclaimed. "Thank god," Cisco breathed. "So, what's the stitch?"

" _Oh my god,"_ Iris breathed. _"Barry's getting beaten up real bad, I don't think he can stay conscious much longer, please help him, or tell me what to do—"_

Caitlin's breath hitched, and Cisco's grip on the walkie-talkie tightened. Harry spoke this time. "Calm down, West," he said. "Take a deep breath and tell us the situation. What are the metas like?"

" _Okay, yeah, sorry, just give me a sec…"_ she seemed to be taking laborious breaths. _"Uh, the info we got from the app was on point, so we have one meta who can melt concrete and another who can transform her limbs into weapons… but it didn't mention that they can also harden their bodies, or something, because Barry's blows aren't hurting them, and he can't inject the thing that'll dampen their powers…"_

They heard her take another deep breath, and Caitlin's gaze sharpened in concern. "Iris," she said, "Iris, are you hurt? Where are you?"

" _Just ran,"_ she wheezed. _"I'm fine. In the dance hall. They've pinned him down with concrete around his legs, and they've destroyed his earpiece. Please, call for help, I can't leave him here…"_

At the back of the van, Caitlin was already grabbing her first-aid kit and the stun gun she'd used against the Geomancer.

"Hey, Cait," Cisco said uncertainly, "Cait, what are you doing?"

"I'm going as back-up," she said. "We can't just sit here and wait for the CCPD, it might be too late."

"Um," Cisco said, "Cait, hate to break it to you, but… there's a reason we're never on the field…"

"Snow," Harry said, "that gun can only fire thrice. Here, take this with you." He handed her a wrench. "If worse comes to worst, strike her hard on the ear. The vibrations it'll cause should distract her enough to allow you to escape."

"Hey, you're not supposed to be allowing her—"

"Go back her up, Ramon."

"Whoa, whoa," Cisco said, as Caitlin got off the van, "and you get to stay here where it's safe and cosy? Nuh-uh, you're not fooling _me_."

"I'm staying to improvise a weapon," he said through gritted teeth, "while waiting for the other one to charge. Between your water gun and that wrench, god knows we'll need it."

"It's _not_ a water gun," Cisco mumbled, "jerk. It's Cryonic Gun Prototype 3.7. I made a functional one once, okay, it's just that some villain stole it—"

"And you're still here talking because…?"

Cisco gasped, offended. "Okay, fine. Give me my _water gun_ and I'll show you how awesome it is. And through transitive property, how awesome _I_ am."

Harry rolled his eyes and threw the gun at Cisco, which, by some athletic miracle, he was able to catch, but not without bruising his thumb. "Ow, gently! Geez." He clambered out of the van. "Hey, if I get this baby to work properly, you gotta start calling me _Master_ Ramon, got it?"

Harry gave him a hard look. "I don't know where you find time for such idiocy," he said, shoving Cisco back before he slammed the door in his face.

Cisco huffed. "That was rude, man. _Way_ rude." Then he took a deep breath. "Well," he said, with a decisive nod. "you can do this, buddy. Since The Flash is down, it's up to the next meta-human in the team to save the day. Come to think of it, we should totally be Team Vibe now…"

 **. . .**

In the meantime, as the team decided on this course of action, Barry had slouched on the ground, only half-conscious after receiving a beating from steel fists that was just a shade better than the one he'd received at the hands of Zoom. He'd feigned unconsciousness early on in hopes that the metas would lose interest, and quite fortunately they did—they were after the rare artefacts on display, after all, and not him—but he needed some time to recover. He only hoped that Iris was safe…

At this moment, though, a movement caught his eye. It looked like someone had entered the dance hall, and had ducked right behind one of the overturned tables a few meters away. Barry squinted and rubbed his eyes. There was a flash of metal and… brown curls?

 _Caitlin?!_ His heart clenched in panic as she peered up from one of the tables. She gave him a small wave. Beside her, a mop of black hair appeared— _Iris?! What is she still doing here?!—_ and pulled Caitlin down.

Now adrenaline was rushing through him, and his heartbeat quickened. There was just no way he could allow Iris and Caitlin— _Caitlin_ —to be here. He had to find a way to crack this concrete, or phase out of it, or at least get them out of here, before—

He watched in horror as Caitlin placed the gun on the edge of the table and took aim at the meta who could manipulate concrete. Both of them were currently at the far end of the hall, with their backs to them, so they could not have anticipated this, but it was a bit of a long shot…

Vaguely Barry thought that she was quite adorable, though, as she bit her lower lip and closed an eye for better aim. She took a deep breath and fired—

And missed spectacularly.

Dread pooled in the pit of Barry's stomach. For some reason, he felt like he was about to bear witness to the most frighteningly abysmal rescue effort he'd ever seen.

 **. . .**

"Damn it!" Caitlin cursed, ducking quickly behind the table again, but forgetting that she was still holding the gun, so that it made a grating sound against the wood. She and Iris froze for a moment, eyes widening at each other in brief terror, before she carefully lifted it and lay it down beside her. "They didn't see us, did they?"

Iris pressed the cold compress that Caitlin had handed to her to the bruise under her ribs. "I doubt it," she said. "You sort of missed, by about a mile?"

Despite herself, Caitlin cracked a smile. "Well, I think the gun isn't useful for long-range shooting."

Iris raised an eyebrow. "Weren't you supposed to know that beforehand?"

"I'm not a weapons person," she muttered back. "This is the only one I know how to use, actually, and I only discovered how by accident."

Iris snorted. "Don't worry," she said, smiling, and feeling slightly better now that the metas had stopped beating Barry up, and now that Caitlin was here with a weapon that could incapacitate them. "We'll come up with something…"

"Guys!" came a hoarse whisper from the mouth of the fire exit, and they saw Cisco waving at them. He made a show of checking if the coast was clear before dropping on his knees and tumbling headfirst, executing what seemed like a roll, except that he was holding a gun so he ended up landing on his side rather ungracefully, and he made enough of noise that Barry face-palmed and the metas looked up from examining the artefacts.

"Ow ow ow," he said. "I've always wanted to do that, though. Super spy roll!"

"Shhh!" Both Caitlin and Iris admonished. "Cisco," Caitlin said sternly, "take this more seriously, okay?"

"I'm sorry," he said, settling beside her, "I am, I'm just really nervous. I mean, we don't really have a plan, and Barry's not exactly peachy enough to save us if we mess up, and I can't seem to vibe anything useful, I mean I don't need to vibe to keep seeing myself as a concrete pancake…"

"Shhh," Iris said again, peeking out to ascertain where the metas were. Their backs were still to them, but they were checking another artefact, this time a few meters closer to where Caitlin's first shot had landed.

"Is that your cryonic gun?" Caitlin asked him.

"Yeah, but it's still a work in progress," Cisco said evasively.

Caitlin's eyes widened in realisation, at the same time that Iris said, "Guys, I've got an idea…"

 **. . .**

When Barry saw Cisco roll in from the entrance, he fervently started wishing that he could will himself to heal faster.

It was no use, though. The concrete was up to his shins, and with his kneecaps done in—the female meta was pretty clever, as destroying their earpieces and immobilising him were both her ideas—there was just no use in trying to phase out yet.

Suddenly, a jet of cold water landed on his leg.

He heard a faint curse from the back of the table, and something like "I thought that was supposed to be a cold gun, not a _cold_ _water_ gun!"

"Hey, hey," another voice hissed, "you can't diss this baby unless you have cool ice powers like your evil doppelganger…"

Definitely Caitlin, and Cisco, though, and he couldn't help the smile that tugged at his lips. Another jet of cold water shot out, and another, and by the fourth time Barry really was tempted to laugh despite the dire situation and all the worrying they were making him do. But he barely got rescued, anyway, so maybe he should savour their efforts…

On the fifth try, a ray of ice finally shot out, and encased the concrete in his right leg. There was a muffled cry of triumph before the next ray was shot. Comprehension dawned on him—the ice had the potential to damage the concrete, at least enough to loosen it (if it hadn't set at the proper strength yet) so that he had space to phase out. He licked his dry lips and glanced back at the metas. Once he'd determined that they were still wholly absorbed with the artefacts of the Aztec Empire, he glanced back at his iced legs—only to find Caitlin standing in front of him, with a wrench in hand.

"Caitlin?" he said hoarsely. "What are you…"

"Shhh," she said. "We've got a plan, don't worry. How are your knees?"

"Healing," he said. "Cait, I'm not sure if I can phase out on time if they find you here—you have to run—"

"You know, Barry," she said, "you should have a little more faith in us." And she smiled at him, and it really was ridiculous how he couldn't help but smile back and how she had just effectively distracted him with an upward quirk of her lips when he should be paying more attention to her raising the wrench before slamming it down on the ice-encased concrete.

At once, the two metas whipped around and shouted, "Who's there?"

"Here goes," Caitlin breathed, and Barry glanced at the metas with frantic eyes. "Cait," he said desperately, "Cait, please, run!"

"Here," she said, shoving the wrench to him, "use your speed and break the ice. We'll distract them."

The steel-plated female narrowed her eyes at Caitlin, and snorted. "Just flies," she said. "Take care of them, darling."

Her husband cracked his knuckles and rammed them into the concrete floor.

"Cait, _RUN_!"

But she was already dragging her feet along the melting concrete, tripping when she lost her footing, saying in a loud but shaky voice, "Come and get me, you blockhead!"—to which Cisco said, "Oooh, witty nickname, Cait!"—and Barry felt like he'd never been so fast in his life as when he attempted to crack the ice around his feet. Finally, the concrete cracked and loosened, and he was able to vibrate and phase out, and his knees were still killing him but _he had to get to her_ —

Caitlin was able to drag herself out of the concrete and onto wood-panelled floors, and the meta frowned, mildly irritated, as he stepped out of the concrete floor as well, and resorted to walking to her. Barry lost no time in flashing to her and gathering her in his arms, but as he moved to stand again his right knee gave way.

"Barry, are you okay?" she said, clambering down and helping him up, but he pushed her away. He fell on the floor again, and he looked back at the hulking meta still leisurely walking towards them, now looking thoroughly amused at how pathetic they must look, and Barry hadn't remembered being so terrified in his life.

"Please Cait," he said, "just run! My knees aren't healed, and nothing my speed can do will work against him—"

"Oh, just shut up and let us help you," she said, grabbing his arm and slinging it around her shoulders. "Besides," she added, "it's not every day that we get to save the Flash."

He sighed. "Has anyone told you that you're way too stubborn for your own good?"

"Not enough times," she replied, smiling. Finally, when the meta was ten meters away from them, Caitlin cried, "Iris, now!"

Barry turned around to see Iris holding the heavy gun Caitlin had brought with her. She took aim at the meta-human, who scoffed and said, in a slow, gravelly voice, "I'll give you a little tip, princess. Bullets don't hurt me."

Iris grinned back, said, "Who said anything about hurting you?" and fired.

A web of electricity closed in on the meta-human and bound his torso and his legs together. He crashed to the ground with a frustrated growl. His companion saw this, and she bared her silvery teeth at Iris and Cisco and was about to lunge at them when they heard the sound of another gun firing—and in the next moment, her steel armour had dissolved back into human skin, and she fell to the ground with a stunned look on her face.

"Harry!" Cisco enthused. "Wow, I can't believe I'm saying this, but am I glad to see you!"

"What did you do?" Iris asked.

"I sharpened a piece of steel and laced it with a meta-human inhibiter," was all he said, even if everyone suspected that he probably improvised the gun as well. He approached the other meta, still thrashing on the ground, and strapped a heavy-looking meta-human inhibiter around his neck. The concrete facade started dissolving, as well. "Detective West will be here in five minutes."

"We did it!" Cisco sang. "Viva la Team Vibe! Whoo!"

Iris raised her brow. "Team Vibe?"

"Ramon suffers from delusions of grandeur," Harry explained.

"And you clearly suffered from an unhappy childhood," Cisco sniffed. "And oh! That's _Master_ Ramon to you now, because guess who is the proud daddy of this sweet _and very functional_ cold gun!"

Harry let out a long-suffering sigh.

 **. . .**

It took Barry a few moments realise that his friends had actually captured the meta-humans without any help from him.

"Thank god it's over," Caitlin muttered beside him, shaking the bits of melted concrete from her skin. "Here, let me see your knees…"

"Cait," he said, gripping her arm. "don't ever do that again. Please."

She looked confused. "Do what?"

"Everything you just did!" he said, feeling agitated again at the mere memory of it, of seeing her rush right into danger and feeling absolutely helpless to save her had she not made it out of the concrete in the nick of time. "Acting as a decoy, calling the meta's attention, rushing headlong into melting concrete—"

"Barry—"

"Cait, I couldn't save you. I couldn't have saved you even if I really wanted to, not with these knees, and I—"

" _Barry_ —"

"—I won't be able to live with myself if you—if—"

And because she couldn't seem to make him listen to her, and because he was so agitated and passionate and at his wit's end over something that obviously didn't happen—which was kind of cute because it was on her account—she swooped in to press a kiss to his lips.

Well, now he fell absolutely silent, and he gaped at her with saucer-wide eyes. Caitlin felt suddenly shy, because it wasn't like her to do something so spur-of-the-moment, and besides she wasn't even 101% sure that he really, really did like her that way—what if Cisco was just misinterpreting _everything_ …?

"Uh," he finally said, "just to make sure, that was a kiss, right? You didn't slip and accidentally fall on my lips, right…? Or if it is, it's fine, you know, um, accidents happen…"

"No, it wasn't an accident," Caitlin said, although she couldn't look him in the eye.

"So… you kissed me on purpose? Why?"

"I don't know, Barry, why do people kiss other people?"

His face split into a grin. "I don't know, Dr. Snow, why don't you enlighten me?"

Caitlin snorted, and decided to humour him. "Well, people kiss other people to shut them up."

"Ah." He nodded solemnly. "Can you shut me up again?"

She rolled her eyes affectionately. "Get well first, Mr. Allen, and we'll see."

There was a pause in which Caitlin helped him sit in a position comfortable enough for his shattered knees. Barry cleared his throat. "Cait?"

"Hm?"

"Um, I really like you. In case that wasn't clear?"

She laughed. "Why, I'd never have guessed. Thank you for informing me."

He beamed. "It's my pleasure."

 **. . .**

Iris and Cisco watched their respective best friends from a distance.

"You know," Iris said, "I'm really happy for them."

Cisco nodded. "Me too. Watching them flirt is like weird-bordering-on-gross-weird, but me too."

* * *

 **Notes:** This fic just ran away from me. Before I knew it, there was some weird version of action and two completely invented metas of dubious scientific basis and some Harry appearances. Anyway, I hope I got to fulfil the prompts. Tell me what you think?


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